Winesburg, Ohio is a short story cycle structured around the life of protagonist George Willard from the time he was a child to his growing independence and ultimate abandonment of Winesburg as a young man; the style of the work progresses as the complexity of his life increases. Although the book is written as twenty-two separate short stories, the stories share a main character and setting (the fictional Winesburg, Ohio) and the collection could be loosely defined as a novel. The Modern Library ranks Winesburg, Ohio 24th on its list of the 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century. (256 pages)
2. Cather, Willa A Lost Lady 1923
A Lost Lady tells the story of Marian Forrester and her husband, Captain Daniel Forrester who live in the Western town of Sweet Water, along the Transcontinental Railroad. The novel is written from the perspective of young Niel Herbert, who grows up in Sweet Water and witnesses the decline of Mrs. Forrester, for whom he feels very deeply, and also of the West itself from the idealized age of noble pioneers to the age of capitalist exploitation. (160 pages)
3. Fitzgerald, F. Scott The Great Gatsby 1925
The Great Gatsby is a novel set in Long Island and New York City during the summer of 1922. Set against the backdrop of the unprecedented economic prosperity of the “roaring” 1920s, the novel follows Nick Carraway, a young bachelor, in his pursuit of the American Dream. The Modern Library ranks The Great Gatsby second on its list of the 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century. (218 pages)
4. Hemingway, Ernest The Sun Also Rises 1926
The Sun Also Rises follows a group of expatriates from Paris to the running of the bulls in Pamplona. It is considered a treatise of the post-WWI generation, dubbed “The Lost Generation.” The novel made Hemingway famous, inspired young ladies across the United States to wear their short hair and sweater sets like Brett Ashley, the heroine—and to act like her too—and changed writing style in ways that could be seen by looking at most American magazines published within the next twenty years. (259 pages)
5. Hurston, Zora Neale Their Eyes Were Watching God 1937
Their Eyes Were Watching God is a novel set in Florida in the early 20th century. It tells the story of an African American woman in her early forties named Janie Crawford, whose life has three major periods corresponding to her marriages to three very different men. TIME magazine included the novel in its 100 Best English-language Novels from 1923 to 2005. (240 pages)
(256 pages)
(160 pages)
(218 pages)
(259 pages)
(240 pages)